Red Eyes, Blue Heart
by Skullcrusher419
Summary: Life can be difficult when you're living with only an older brother, especially when you have red eyes. That's Dave Strider's situation. This is how Dave Strider's life was before SBURB ever made a huge affect upon his life.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

So in this fanfic, there's several skips in time (like age five to age nine, etc.). I just thought that as the writer of this fanfic, you should know that. **ALSO: I DO NOT OWN HOMESTUCK. THAT BELONGS TO THE WONDERFUL ANDREW HUSSIE.** Well, since that's all done, please enjoy the fanfic.

~Age Five~

The sound of children's laughter and joy filled the playground of the preschool. All of the children laughed and giggled as they slid down the slide, swung on the swings, and chased each other around the playground.

Everyone—that is—except for Dave Strider.

Leaning against the corner, feeling his Bro's enormous sweater drag him down, Dave felt like the only person he needed and wanted to talk to was his one and only brother. So he isolated himself from everyone else. It seemed like the only correct choice by this little boy's standards.

_Maybe someone will come and talk to me_, Dave pondered in his mind.

Then, as if someone heard his thought, the red-eyed boy heard footsteps approach him. Dave looked up and saw a girl his age approach him, her short brown hair waved back and forth as she walked towards him. Her small mouth widened in curiosity as she said with a childish voice, "Woah, your eyes are pretty!"

That was the first and very last compliment that Dave would ever receive from someone at his school.

Smiling a bit, Dave replied with a bit more comfort. "W-why thank you… Your eyes are pretty too."

Grinning widely, the small child held out her hand to Dave. "You wanna be friends?" she asked right before the preschool bell rang, which indicated that preschool was also over as well as recess. Dave widened his eyes in amazement as he noticed that unlike everyone else, she stayed with him instead of going inside and waited patiently for him to answer her question. Maybe she _did_ want him to be his friend.

"Yeah… I'd like that," the red-eyed boy mumbled in reply as he managed another shy smile. Then he followed the girl inside as she gave him yet another smile. Inside the building, Dave saw Bro holding his red school backpack over his shoulder. And as usual, Bro wore a plain white tee, jeans, a baseball cap, and his anime shades.

"Hey, lil'man. How was school today?" Bro greeted him and looked down in surprise as Dave rushed towards him and grabbed onto his leg. "Oh, come on, man. School isn't _that_ bad." He gently pulled Dave off his leg and held his hand as they walked out of the building together. Once they reached the parking lot, Dave looked up and saw a group of school nurses huddled up near the exit of the school. One of the nurses looked over at Dave and Bro.

Bro tightened his grip on Dave's hand.

"That's the kid I was talking about," one of the nurses whispered as they passed them. "He has red eyes like a monster."  
Confused and frightened, the five year old child looked up at his older brother and opened his mouth to ask him something. But Bro shook his head and said, "Keep walking, Dave." Still puzzled, Dave waited until they got into the car to speak.

"Am I a monster, Bro?" Dave asked. Bro paused as he buckled up his little brother into the car booster seat. Then he placed his hands on Dave's tiny shoulders.

"Dave. You're anything but a monster. You're my little brother and will always be that. Promise me that you won't listen and believe the bad things that people say about your eyes. Okay?"

Looking down at his lap, Dave nodded. "I promise."

"Good." Bro gave a small smile and kissed Dave on the forehead, then started up the car and drove back home to the apartment. It was a silent drive back until Dave spoke.

"Bro?"

"Yeah, Dave?"

"I love you." Dave whispered.

"I love you too, lil'man."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:

So here's the second part of the story... I spent six hours typing up and editing this part nonstop, which is basically of what my day consisted of. This is very unhealthy (as told by my brother). So I suppose I'll upload the next part sometime next week or so... Also, thank you for those of you who have taken the time to read and follow/favourite the story! Anyways, enjoy the read!

~Age 6~

Pressing his hands upon the window, Dave peered into the toy store that was called _The Four Toymakers_. He turned towards his Bro. "Bro, bro, bro! Can I go inside the toy store, please? Please, please, please, please?" Dave eagerly asked, jumping up and down.

Bro leaned down and ruffled Dave's hair and looked into his red eyes. "Of course, little man. Just wear these when you go inside, okay?" Bro took off his anime shades and put them on Dave's small face.

"But Bro… I don't wanna!" the red-eyed boy whined. "They're too pointy!"

Chuckling, Bro took back the shades and gave Dave his hat instead. "You can wear my hat then, okay?" he took Dave's hand and walked into the toy store with him. Once they stepped inside, a specific toy caught Dave's eye almost immediately. Tugging Bro, Dave dashed over to a miniature robot that clanked back and forth on a table that was filled with other types of small robots. This robot had a little red baseball cap that had a blue band around the bottom of the hat. It also had huge, round black eyes with a vertical, rectangle-like mouth. The robot had a square-like head and body and wore red and blue shoes. It spoke as it faced Dave, "Yo dog! You wanna rap?"

Giggling, Dave looked at Bro and asked, "Can I have it? Pleaseeeeee? I promise I'll be good!"

Sighing, Bro held up the little robot and looked at the price tag attached to it. Smiling a little bit, Bro flipped the switch that was located on the bottom of the robot, turning it off. Then he nodded and led Dave to the cashier, holding the little robot in his hand.

The cashier was an old man who seemed to smile a lot. He said with a happy tone, "I'm glad that you like that robot. In this store, I try to make all of the toys individual and rare! That means that that's the only robot that has those types of features and looks. Also, there's another robot that goes with the one you're buying right now…" the cashier pulled out another robot that was slightly taller than the one they were buying already. It seemed to wear a black cloak and a red cap with black lines for eyes. "I'll give it to you for free. Just please make sure to not lose it, okay?" he looked at Dave, who could just barely see over the counter. Dave nodded eagerly as the Bro purchased the robot. Then they left the store and sat outside on a nearby bench.

"Bro? What names should I give them?" Dave asked and kept looking at the two robots. "Red box? Wait no… That won't work…"

Bro took the little robot and held it up, examining its' features once more. "I think the short one should be named….Squarewave. And the tall one should be named…" Bro paused for a second before answering. "Sawtooth."

Dave looked at Bro curiously before saying with a childish smile, "That sounds great, Bro!" then the red-eyed boy hugged him and said, "Take a picture of Sawtooth and Squarewave, Bro! Take a picture!"

Laughing a little bit, Bro pulled out his camera and took a picture of the two tiny robots; then he gently placed the toys in his grocery bag "When we get back home, we'll print out the picture of them, okay?" Bro stood up, picked up Dave, and placed him on his shoulders.

"Wheeee!" Dave shouted and gave a toothy smile as he kept both hands wrapped around his brother's neck as Bro ran back to the apartment.

It was almost six o'clock when they approached their apartment. Dave was still on Bro's shoulders, yawning and wiping his eyes tiredly. It was then that Dave noticed a homeless person lying on the ground against a wall. He held up a sign that read: _Help please_.

Looking from the homeless person to his brother, Dave quietly asked, "Bro… Can we give him something?"

Bro stopped in his tracks and stared at the homeless man. Then he placed Dave on his feet, and together, they approached the man. Looking down at Dave, Bro gestured him to talk; and so Dave did.

"Um… Hi, mister." Dave nervously said.

Placing his hand on Dave's shoulder, Bro spoke. "My little brother wanted me to give this to you." Bro held out the bag of groceries.

The man looked up at Bro and Dave.

Smiling, Bro spoke, "It's alright. You can take it. We'll be fine."

Both Dave and Bro watched as the man took the offering gratefully and managed two words, "Thank you."

Bro nodded and continued to walk back to their apartment. When they got inside, Dave went to his room and started playing with some of his stuff animals. He picked up a teddy bear and enthusiastically said, "I'm back, Mr. Teddy Bear! And guess what? I have a surprise!" Grinning, Dave ran to Bro—who was in his room—and energetically asked, "Hey Bro, can I have Squarewave and Sawtooth now?"

"Sure, lil'man. Let me get it—" Bro stopped and watched as Dave's cheerful smile disappeared. Dave kept looking at Bro, tears building up in his eyes. Bro stepped closer to Dave and tried to place a hand on Dave's shoulder. But before he could do that, Dave whacked his hand away and ran out of the apartment.

"Shit," Bro groaned as he ran after Dave. When he caught up with the boy, they were outside, standing in the same exact place where they had given the homeless man the grocery bag. Except this time, the man was gone and so was the bag of groceries that had Squarewave and Sawtooth in it. Dave was crying while furiously trying to wipe away the tears that seemed to never stop.

"Dave…" Bro crouched down beside Dave. "I'm sorry, man. But we can get another one from the store."

The red-eyed boy looked at Bro and continued sobbing. "Y-you heard_ *hic* _the man, Bro. That *_hic*_ was the only toy that _*hic*_ looked like that!" Dave continued to cry. And with a sad expression, Bro picked up Dave and walked back to their apartment. When they got back, Bro printed out the large picture that he took of the two robots and handed it to Dave, who had stopped crying. "Here's the picture of Sawtooth and Squarewave," Bro said before turning to leave his little brother's room.

"Wait." Dave pointed to the top corner of his wall. "Can you please tape it there?" And without speaking a word, Bro taped it on the wall. Then Bro left, leaving Dave staring at the picture of his two lost robots. Dave continued to stare at the poster, as if expecting something to happen.

Then Dave moved to the door of his room and before turning the lights off, Dave quietly said, "Please come back to me someday."


	3. Chapter 3

~Age 9~

It was two weeks into the school year for Dave Strider once again. Summer had gone too fast. If only it had lasted for longer, even just one day would've made the difference. But that was the past. Now was the present.

Anyways, like usual, Dave was called to the nurse's office in the school. Snickers and whispers were heard all around him right before he left the classroom. When he reached the nurse's office, the nurse checked his eyes again for what seemed like the tenth time this week. A visit to the nurse's office usually consisted of several tests and examinations on Dave's unnatural red eyes. This usually took about twenty minutes or so. Once the nurse was finished, Dave returned back to the classroom.

As he made his way across his classroom to his desk, the classroom was filled with soft snickering that seemed to make a small humming noise. Eye twitching with irritability, Dave Strider slowed his pace, hoping that by doing this, he could possibly stop time and get out of this nightmare. But he knew that what he faced was impossible to avoid.

And just like he predicted, he was greeted with table graffiti. One word was written in thick red sharpie across his desk.

**_FREAK_**

Biting his lip and holding the tears back, Dave sat down at his desk and opened his folder, and found another word that was scribbled across it.

**_MUTANT_**

Clenching his fist, Dave stood up abruptly, slammed his fist against the desk, a sharp pain flaring through his hand on impact. "Dammit, why must you guys do this? Do you even understand my situation?! Do you _think_ I _wanted_ red eyes?! What do y'all get out of this, huh?!"

Dave's classmates sat in silence, some wearing smirks while others wore faces of sympathy.

Then one word broke the silence.

"Outcast!" a kid shouted.

Then others joined. "Freak! Mutant! Monster! Weirdo!"

Panicked, Dave looked to the teacher, hoping to find a person—any person—who could help get him out of this mess. Instead, he saw brown eyes filled with hatred glaring and burning into his head. Then, clenching his teeth, the red-eyed boy dashed out of the room, persistent on escaping his hell hole.

"You can't keep acting like this, man." Bro sighed, looking for something that was in one of the closets in the hallway. "Soon, you're gonna be expelled, dude. And that's not good for your career. Hell, if you're trying to become like me, you sure as hell don't wanna do that." He paused to look at Dave through his shades. "Look man, whatever you're going through, I can understand."

Tears spilling out of his red eyes, Dave blurted out, "You don't know what it's like to be in my situation, Bro! You don't know shit!"

"Hey, watch your language." Bro sternly said before saying in a softer tone. "So tell me about what happened today."

Dave groaned. "So I left the classroom to go to the nurses' office for another stupid eye checkup. Then I came back and found my desk and folder covered with graffiti and insults. I mean, I know this has been going on since third grade, but I never thought that it'd get _this _bad. They call me a mutant, freak, weirdo, and other stupid things. And when I try to talk to the counselor, she either says that she's too busy or that it's my own business!" Dave furiously crossed the room multiple times, desperate to rid of the tears that tickled at the corner of his eyes. He looked up at Bro, a part of him wanting his brother to understand and another part of him wanting him not to.

Dave silently waited for his brother to tell him something…Anything. Even if it was one of Bro's cliché "man-up" statements.

Instead, Bro set down the item—that he retrieved from the closet—behind his back so that Dave could not see it. He kneeled in front of Dave so that he could easily make eye contact with him.

"Tell me something, Dave. What do you think can help stop this from happening again?"

After thinking for a few seconds or so, Dave folded his arms and said, "I can be home-schooled by you!"

Letting out a small chuckle, Bro ruffled Dave's hair. "Lil' man, my teaching skills are too extreme for you. Stay in school and you'll be cool like a knight."

Tilting his head, Dave scrunched up his face, confused.

Bro stood up, picking up the item he had gotten from the closet. "Look, dude. I may not be able to provide you with my sick teaching skills, but I can give you something else."

Bro handed Dave a phone and a small, neatly wrapped box towards Dave. "Happy Birthday, Dave." Bro said. And with a surprised face, Dave slowly moved towards Bro and looked at the gifts, as if not sure how to react.

"Y…you remembered?"

His brother gave a one-sided grin. "Of course. Did you really think I'd forget a birthday as important as yours?"

Then with a quick dash towards Bro, the red-eyed boy hugged his brother, while attempting to say the words, "Thank you."

"No problem, lil'man. After all, that's what bros are for." Bro said as they continued their embrace. And even though he never told him, Bro understood what his little brother was going through and how difficult it was to have multiple conflicts going on in his life; especially conflicts that can affect people deep in the heart. Letting go of his little brother, Bro patted Dave's shoulder.

"Look, how about you go to your room and download some apps on your phone? Maybe it'll cheer you up." Bro watched as Dave nodded slowly. The red-eyed boy then pulled away from his brother, took the presents gratefully, and walked silently to his room.

Once reaching the safety of his bed, Dave opened up the neatly wrapped present from his Bro. It was covered in a wrapping paper with Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff stickers and terrible drawings of smuppets. After ripping off the wrapping paper of the present, Dave opened the box and picked up a small note and a pair of dark anime shades that were smaller than Bro's.

The note read:

_Dave—_

_ As your bro, I know that one day you'll needs these again. Sometimes, there are days that seem worse than others. But trust me, it gets better._

_ —Bro_

Cracking a small grin, Dave picked up the anime shades and recalled himself wearing these shades when he was younger… Well, that was before he refused to wear them to preschool. But he had no idea that Bro kept them all these years. Perhaps it might've been better if he hadn't refused to wear them in the first place. Dave put them on and looked at his reflection in the window. It looked familiar and oddly made him look more like his Bro. Maybe it was always meant to be like this. Thankfully, these shades were also dark enough so that his red eye colour did not show. Satisfied, Dave picked up his laptop and got to work.

After setting up all of the backgrounds, displays, and information on his new and very first phone, Dave started browsing the internet. It was then that Dave came across a section of the app store that was dedicated to instant messaging software. After several minutes of scrolling through the incredibly long list of different types of IM software and designs, he came across a name that caught his attention. It was called _Pesterchum_; it had a five star rating along with over one thousand downloads. Eyes widening in curiosity, Dave clicked on the Pesterchum download link and watched as the download bar grew from zero to one hundred percent.

_Maybe Bro was right,_ Dave thought, _perhaps a bit of social media will help me._

Once the installation was completed, Dave created the Chumhandle name: _turntechGodhead_. Then, the red-eyed boy proceeded to browse the list of other users on this software and started messaging a few. After talking to a few people on Pesterchum, Dave sighed and leaned back on his bed. Then a sudden IM alert came up and green text started to pop up into the chat box.

_-gardenGnostic [GG] started pestering turntechGodhead [TT]-_

_GG: hi there!_

_TG: hey_

_GG: my name's jade! What's yours?_

_TG: dave_

_GG: nice to meet you, dave! Do you have any hobbies?_  
_TG: making remixes and sick beats i suppose_

_TG: what about you_

_GG: i love gardening, thats for sure!_

_TG: thats cool i guess_

_GG: have you never gardened before, dave?_

_TG: never have_

_GG: oh… :( thats too bad! maybe you should try it out sometime!_

_TG: maybe and maybe not_

_TG: anyways i have to go eat dinner_

_GG: oh ok... :(_

_TG: talk to you later then_

_GG: wait!_

_TG: what_

_GG: make sure that you talk to my two friends sometime! i think you might just get along with them well! :D_

_TG: whats their chumhandle_

_GG: ectoBiologist and tentacleTherapist_

_TG: okay_

_GG: :D_

_TG: i added them as chums_

_TG: you as well_

_GG: yay! Well, talk to you later, dave! :D_

_TG: later_

_-turntechGodhead ceased pestering gardenGnostic-_

Dave watched as Jade changed her status to _chummy. _His fingers still lingered on the screen of his phone, as if he was expecting someone to start talking with him. But there was no one. Frowning, Dave slowly turned off his phone and for some reason he felt like he wanted to talk to Jade and her friends. Biting his lip, Dave turned on his phone on just as Bro burst into his room, his hand behind his back.

"Dave, dinner is ready." Bro said in a rather loud and dramatic voice.

Groaning, Dave replied, "Come on, dude, can't it wait?" he looked up and to his dismay, he watched as Bro held up a red smuppet. "Oh god. Is that a smuppet?"

Raising the smuppet high in the air, Bro pulled back his arm and threw the disturbing red plushie at Dave, hitting him right in the face. Throwing his hands up in the air, Dave shouted, "Fine, fine! I'll go eat!" Dave dropped his phone onto his bed and ran out of his room. Still in the same spot as before, Bro walked into Dave's room and looked at the phone as it buzzed with an alert. It was from one of Dave's friends on Pesterchum, and a message had apparently been sent for Dave. Smirking, Bro typed in the password, _RED KNIGHT_, and unlocked his phone. On the phone, the screen was filled with green text.

_Alert from gardenGnostic:_

_Hey Dave, this is Jade again! :D Just wanted to tell you that if you wanted to, you can join me, John, and Rose in our memo! I'll send you an invite right now!_

**_You have been invited into the memo [:D]!_**

**_Join_****_ or _****_Decline_**

Bro waited, wondering if he should answer. Then another alert flashed upon the screen.

_Alert from gardenGnostic:_

_ Um… Dave? Are you there? I mean, if you don't want to join, it's totally fine! I just thought that you might want to say hi to everyone. Anyways, reply if you want to join! :D_

Scratching his head in confusion, Bro turned around and left the room. "So he _does_ have friends." Bro murmured to himself. "And it's a girl." He paused in his footsteps to think a moment before continuing his walk to the kitchen. "I guess I better teach him more about smuppets."


	4. Chapter 4

Authors note: I'm terribly sorry for the long delays upon uploading the new chapter. I've been extremely busy this summer. Anyways, here's the next chapter. There may be some grammar and spelling errors, but oh well.

* * *

~Age 12~

The low humming of the fan and the loud city noises from outside were the only sounds that were heard in Dave's room. The sun's rays pierced through the window and shined upon Dave's bed. Under the blankets was an unconscious boy who was dreaming of many wonders and things.

Many of those not consisting of what was about to happen.

"Dave!" Bro's voice boomed as he kicked open the door dramatically. "Wake up, lil'man. You have to go to school." Hearing no response, Bro walked over to the sleeping Dave and yanked the blankets off of him.

Immediately, the red-eyed boy screeched and stuffed his face in the pillow.

"I'm not gonna say this again, Dave—" Bro flopped himself upon his little brother, crushing him. "—Get up."

Squealing and yelling furiously under his brother's weight, Dave finally replied, "I will if you get off of me!"

Getting off Dave, Bro stood up and said, "Oh, and Dave, don't you have to go to school early for that tutoring session?" He watched as Dave nodded. "Well, I can drive you there. So hurry get ready and I'll make you breakfast." And with that, Bro left to the kitchen.

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Dave threw on a red t-shirt over his head, put on some jeans and fumbled for his shades. After getting ready for the day, he went down the hallway and smelled burnt toast. Making his way into the kitchen, Dave found Bro trying to spread butter on his toast with his fingers.

Dave narrowed his eyes at the sight. "Bro, what are you doing?"

His brother turned to look at him. "What does it look like? I'm putting butter on the toast."

"But you're using your finger. Use a knife."

"We don't have knifes." Bro stared at Dave as if it were obvious.

Face palming himself, Dave shook his head disapprovingly. "Wha—that makes no sense. We _just_ used knives last night though. What did you do with them?"

"I threw them away." Bro stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh my god, you are unbelievable." Dave opened the refrigerator and grabbed one of his brother's katanas. "Just use one of your shitty swords."

Using as much effort as he could—which was not a lot—Bro tried to look offended as he gasped, "_Those_ are totally non-shitty swords, lil'man. And those are anything _but_ butter knifes."

Dave shook his head. "Whatever. Let's just get going." He said as he grabbed one of the burnt toasts that were already prepared by Bro. Sure, it was burnt toast. But Dave agreed with himself that it was better than drinking piss for breakfast. _Pft,_ Dave thought. _As if anything similar to that would ever happen._

It was thirty minutes until the morning bell rang. Dave Strider was walking down an empty school hallway, trying to get to the other side of school for his teacher's classroom for tutoring. Shoving his hands nervously into his jeans, Dave passed by the hallway full with tall lockers big enough to fit a kid in there. Just looking at those lockers made shivers run down the red-eyed boy's spine. It reminded him of memories of his past years in school.

"You there, Red!" someone behind Dave yelled.

It was about a year ago that people in his school started calling him by the name Red. It was quite obvious onto their reason why: his red eyes. That nickname always made Dave want to scream at them and tell them that they were wrong; that their reason of bullying him and listing him an outcast was completely childish and wrong. But nobody would've ever listened to him. After all, he was just a boy who everyone ignored.

Not looking back, he quickened his pace, finding himself gripping his shades tightly. _Not now,_ Dave thought. _Please not now._ The sound of footsteps behind Dave only got closer. "Don't ignore me, Red!" the same person yelled. Biting his lip nervously, Dave started running, not remembering where the classroom was.

The next thing that happened seemed to happen quickly. A hand suddenly gripped Dave's shoulder and turned him around roughly. He found himself staring up at a tall boy older than himself. Then somehow, the boy snatched Dave's shades and tossed them behind his shoulders. And for a moment, Dave could have sworn that he heard them crack. Eyes wide and mouth gaping, the red-eyed boy found himself stuttering, "D-don't do t-t-that."

The older boy cocked his head to the side and snickered, saying in a sarcastic voice, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. What did you say?"

"I-I said—" Dave attempted to speak louder now, but was interrupted as the boy shoved him against a locker. The sound of metal banging echoed throughout the rows of lockers. The older boy held him against the cold metal as Dave kicked and yelled, opening up the locker right next to Dave.

And before he knew it, he was shoved into a locker that was quite large. Darkness soon enveloped him as the locker door shut with a loud bang and a _click._ Only a few holes in the locker provided rays of light for the frightened boy. "Let me out!" Dave yelled, panicked and scared.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Red. I'm afraid I can't hear you." The older boy said, his voice carrying through one of the holes in the locker. Then he cackled in laughter as he walked away.

Gritting his teeth, Dave kicked and pushed at the locker door. But it was no use. "Dammit," Dave cursed. "Someone help me please!" He attempted to kick at the metal again, only yelling in pain and gripping his foot. It was until a few minutes later that Dave realized that it would be a long time until help came.

Sliding down onto the cold, hard ground of the locker, Dave pulled up his knees to his chest tightly and cried.


End file.
